Clark has been appointed as an independent adviser to the Government in a bid to bring some of the 720,000 empty homes across the country back into use. Some 280,000 of them have been vacant for six months or more.
The Government has already announced £150 million in funding to bring empty homes back into use as affordable housing, which included £50m to tackle clusters of empty homes and £70m and £30m respectively for Councils and community groups to bring empty homes back into use.
"I am delighted that George Clarke has agreed to work with us as we pull out all the stops to end the national scandal of empty homes," said Andrew Stunell, Communities Minister. "George's appointment as our independent adviser on this issue will give these efforts a real boost, and I look forward to seeing how communities benefit from his help and advice."
As an independent adviser, Clark has been tasked with promoting the act of bringing empty homes back into use, raising public awareness of the benefits and encouraging local people to report empty homes in their area.
As part of the campaign, Clark is expected to work with councils, housing associations and voluntary groups, to identify "innovate and good ideas" and sharing those across communities, the Government said.
Clark must also challenge the Government and other public bodies to ensure that publicly-owned homes are not left empty, it added, and explore whether current plans for demolition in councils could be scaled back.
"There are hundreds of thousands of empty homes that could and should be saved from the bulldozers and refurbished," said Clarke. "I care passionately about this subject and I'll leave no stone unturned in my efforts to find a solution to the problem and get these houses back into use for the families who need them."
